Voluntary de-registration of project import contract bars later re-registration and denies concessional duty on spare parts

A project import contract consciously de-registered at the importer's request could not be revived for availing project import concession, because no documentary basis showed that the de-registration was compelled by customs advice. The absence of an express statutory bar did not justify mechanical re-registration after a voluntary de-registration. Concessional duty on spare parts and accessories under Heading 84.66(ii) was also unavailable, since that benefit applied only where the goods were imported under a contract registered under the relevant project import provision and the mandatory registration condition was not met. The appeal therefore failed, and the denial of concessional treatment was upheld.

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Issues: (i) whether the contract earlier de-registered at the appellants' request could be re-registered for availing project import concession; (ii) whether concessional duty under Heading 84.66(ii) could be allowed on the imported spare parts and accessories after de-registration of the contract.

Issue (i): whether the contract earlier de-registered at the appellants' request could be re-registered for availing project import concession

Analysis: The appellants had themselves sought de-registration when they considered assessment on merits more beneficial than assessment under project import concession. No documentary basis was shown to establish that the de-registration was compelled by any advice from customs authorities. The plea that re-registration must follow merely because no express statutory bar was pointed out was rejected, since such relief could not be granted mechanically after a conscious de-registration.

Conclusion: Re-registration of the contract was not admissible and the finding was against the appellants.

Issue (ii): whether concessional duty under Heading 84.66(ii) could be allowed on the imported spare parts and accessories after de-registration of the contract

Analysis: Heading 84.66(ii) permits concession to spare parts and accessories only if they are imported as part of a contract registered under sub-heading (i), subject to the prescribed value limit and essentiality for maintenance of the plant or project. Since the appellants' contract stood de-registered, the mandatory pre-condition of registration was absent. The concession therefore could not be extended on the spares.

Conclusion: Concession under Heading 84.66(ii) was rightly denied and the finding was against the appellants.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed because the appellants could not revive the de-registered contract or satisfy the statutory condition precedent for concessional treatment of the spare parts.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a project import contract has been consciously de-registered at the importer's instance, concessional benefit for spare parts under a provision requiring registration of the underlying contract cannot be claimed unless that mandatory pre-condition is fulfilled.

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